The Showdown
by Altheas
Summary: A long standing conflict between the ThunderCats newest members, Rangerkitty, and Crystalandra finally comes to a head as the two she-cats battle it out! This is the first fanfiction work submitted from the authors Rangerkitty and Crystalandra. Hope you enjoy it.


7

**SHOWDOWN**

A Collaboration by Rangerkitty and Sh'iar Crystalandra

**Chapter 1**

_Oh my gosh! _Rangerkitty swore under her breath as she raced down the corridor towards the Conference room of the Cat's Lair. _I can't be late for this meeting! I promised Tygra that my training session with Argo wouldn't be very long-I can't believe how quickly the time passed!_

Crystalandra suddenly appeared from around the corner blocking the tigress. "I want to talk to you!" She growled.

Ranger slowed her pace and frowned as she quickly stepped around the tall she-cat, "I don't have time for this Crystalandra! Maybe later!"

Without warning, the Sh'iar warrior fiercely tackled her to the ground, "You ARE going to make time!" She flipped her over and roared in the tigress' face. "This is something that needs to be addressed NOW!"

Acting on instinct, RK head-butted the Sh'iar, dazing her momentarily and throwing her off. She knelt up and took a deep breath. "What is WRONG with you?!"

Crys rolled onto her back snarling and rubbing her nose. "You BITCH as if you didn't know!" Breathing heavily, she leapt at Ranger with claws extended intent on doing maximum damage to the tigress!

Rangerkitty gasped and reached behind her for the whip Tygra had given her for her work out with Argo. Closing her eyes, she activated it becoming instantly invisible.

"WHAT?!" To the She-cat's astonishment, the tigress had disappeared using the damned bolo whip! Crys landed on her feet snarling in anger that Ranger had eluded her. "COWARD!" She yelled. "Come here and face me!"

"You are going to pay dearly for this!" Rangerkitty roared and grabbed Crystalandra from behind in a choke-hold. "How dare you attack me!"

The Sh'iar warrior acted on instinct using her uncanny senses to locate her invisible opponent. She jabbed her elbow into the tigress' side then seized Ranger's arm and flipped the ThunderCat over her shoulder. Rangerkitty landed on her back with a resolute thud. As quickly as a cheetah, Crystalandra had the young woman pinned to the floor with the heel of her hand pressed against the tigress' windpipe. "Now that I have you where I want you, there is something I want to know! Refuse and I will choke you!"

"You. Are. So. Mean." She managed to speak out. RK struggled to breathe with the heavy Sh'iar on top of her.

"You don't know the half of it!" The hybrid spat. "Why are you still training with Argo?"

She loosened her weight on the tigress so Rangerkitty could gasp a huge breath of fresh air... Crystalandra watched, allowing this, and on the seventh breath, she acquiesced. "He told me I needed more training-that I wasn't ready."

"What do you take me for? An idiot?" She snorted. "You passed the Thundercat trials nearly first and as far as I am concerned you don't need anymore training from the Tiglon! So I ask you again...**Why** are you still training with him?"

Rangerkitty couldn't take it anymore. She pulled her right arm back and punched the Sh'iar with the uppercut Argo had taught her. As she saw the blood spew, she gasped and immediately felt sorry, "Ooh dear Jaga! Crys! I'm, I'm sorry!"

"SHIT!" The hybrid swore wiping the blood from her split lip. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! WHY I SHOULD..."

"You should what?" Argo demanded standing with his hands on his hips glaring down at the two women. Crys frowned at her large mate. "Do you mind? This is a private discussion."

The Tiglon growled with obvious displeasure over the situation.

RK came visible, releasing the rope from around her, now standing unsteadily. "Um, hi Argo..."

Rangerkitty slowly uncoiled the rope from around her body as Argo steadily watched Crystalandra...

The she-cat spat blood on the ground. "What are you watching me like that for? I have done nothing wrong!" Crys held up her bloodied hand showing him testimony of the damage that was inflicted upon her. "Look what she did to me!"

"You provoked Rangerkitty for no reason, so you got what you deserved." He replied sternly. He turned toward the orange tigress. "Now as for you, I want a word…"

Crystalandra scrambled to her feet. "You had better make it a brief one because I'm not finished with little miss fluff there!"

"Who are you calling a fluff?!" Rangerkitty demanded, starting back towards her but was held back by Argo's strong arm and his powers of calm. Argo raised his other hand silencing both women. "Crys go into my dojo and wait for us there…You and Ranger can sort out your differences once and for all, one on one."

"That would be most acceptable—don't keep her too long." The hybrid agreed storming off.

The tigress watched the Sh'iar queen then rounded on the Tiglon, "Argo—have you lost your mind? How could you suggest that I take on Crystalandra?! She is bigger, much more muscular, and a trained super soldier! I don't stand a chance against her!"

"She is a trained Sh'iar warrior, but right now she is not thinking rationally with so much anger bottled up inside her. Ranger… you will use that to your advantage." Argo smiled. "You won't be able to beat her but the object here is to gain her respect. Well, because currently she does not respect you as a fellow warrior."

"No kidding…" The tigress agreed, feeling defeated already. She took a deep cleansing breath, just like he had trained her to do. "Argo, all I really want, and have always wanted is to be her friend…She gets along with the others…Why not with me?"

"I think she feels threatened that you are trying to steal me away from her."

"That is ridiculous!"

He shrugged. "Prove her wrong…Fight her."

Argo helped the tigress to her feet. "I don't know…I'm supposed to be meeting Tygra and if he got word of this…"

"He won't…I'll keep him occupied while you have it out with Crystalandra so don't worry and one more thing." The Tiglon removed the bolo whip from Ranger. "No tricks of invisibility; you don't want Crys to stoop to dirty tactics to crush you."

Rangerkitty's eyes widened with alarm. "B-but…"

"No buts…This will be the perfect opportunity to use the fighting techniques I have taught you to stay one step ahead of Crys." Argo cupped the tigress' chin raising her head to him; Ranger felt lost in the intensity of his mesmerizing pale blue eyes, "You can do it…" He said quietly. "You are one of my best pupils…"

"She'll beat me to a pulp." The tigress protested.

"No she won't because I won't let her."

Hearing this Ranger became quite hopeful. "Does that mean you will be there later to cheer me on?"

The Tiglon shook his head. "I wont' be there physically but I will know what Crys is up to since I share a bond with her. I promise I won't let anything happen to you. Now, go get her tigress and win the respect you rightfully deserve!"

**Chapter 2**

Rangerkitty and Crystalandra warily circled each other in the confines of Argo's dojo.

"Are you going to attack or are we going to spend the rest of this session dancing in circles?" The Sh'iar warrior taunted trying to get a rise out of the tigress.

Ranger silently counted to ten as the Tiglon had taught her. She worked to channel her focus into exposing her opponent's weaknesses which she knew was Crys' fury. "No Crystalandra, that seems to be your specialty." She calmly replied. "You know all about dancing in circles; being all talk and no action."

"WHAT?!" The she-cat raged and charged. "I'll show you a thing or two!"

Just as the tigress had expected her flippant remark brought out the reaction she was hoping for. Crys came full on not pre-thinking her attack strategy and allowing her anger to cloud her judgment. Rangerkitty leapt into the air, somersaulted over the hybrid, swung her leg out and using Crys' momentum against her sent the startled warrior hurtling into the far wall of the dojo! The tigress winced observing the impact.

"Oh Gods! Sorry Crys…Are you all right?"

In answer to her question, the Sh'iar queen roared her response and went full force after her opponent.

"Crys take it easy!" She yelped. "I don't understand what this is all about! Must we fight?"

"YES!" Crystalandra snapped taking a swipe and missing. Rangerkitty barely managed to avoid being sliced by the furious She-cat as she arched her back lower than ever, missing the attack. "Crys you're being totally unreasonable! There is no need for us to fight!" Rangerkitty was now shuffling backwards, doing her best to stay out of the irate hybrid's reach.

The Sh'iar warrior suddenly swerved and began doing a series of back flips leaping over the stunned tigress blocking her path. "_I don't understand your need to be coddled_." Crys declared sarcastically glaring down at the smaller red-haired tigress.

"Coddled?" Rangerkitty gasped. "Why would you say that? Is that your reason for calling me fluffy?!"

"BINGO!" The she-cat laughed. The sound echoed hollowly within the dojo grating on the orange tigress' nerves. "All you need do is bat those long eyelashes of yours and have the males falling over themselves to come to your aid!"

"That is not true!" The tigress shouted forgetting all that the Tiglon had told her about containing her temper. "You know for a fact how hard I worked to get where I am today!"

"I'm sure you did…" Crys held up her hand examining her claws, "I know about your past and the things you did…Does your boyfriend have any idea regarding your previous profession?"

Her heart fell into her stomach at her words. However, although the Sh'iar queen's words cut Rangerkitty deeply like a knife she wasn't about to give the hybrid the satisfaction of know how much it hurt. The tigress straightened her shoulders and stepped forward jabbing Crystalandra in the chest with her finger as she emphasized her point. This greatly stunned the lavender warrior!

Ranger's brilliant green eyes flashed with an unbridled fury and resolve as she spoke, "Who are YOU to judge me? I make no apologies for my past and feel no shame for the things I have done for my survival! If you were in my shoes you would probably do the same!"

Crys made a derisive sound deep in her throat, "I hardly doubt it!"

This infuriated the tigress even further! "Crystalandra, it is a shame you have formed a biased opinion of me because of that. I will have you know I AM NOT A FLUFFY, SILLY, OR HELPLESS INDIVIDUAL—I AM A THUNDERCAT! I respect you as an individual and fellow ThunderCat; I wish you would give me the same consideration!"

Crys bristled, "Respect must be earned and when will you get it through that thick skull of yours I AM NOT A THUNDERCAT! I am a SH'IAR WARRIOR!

The tigress growled at the she-cat refusing to back down. "From my understanding Sh'iar warriors were once ThunderCats selected to become super soldiers. Regardless you ARE a ThunderCat! All right…I'll tell you the reason why I am still training with Argo—it is twofold. Firstly, I do require additional training, and secondly, I thought by talking to the Tiglon I would be able to gain some insight from him how to get along with you…"

Crystalandra studied Rangerkitty. "Why?"

"Why… what…?"

"Why would you make the effort to get to know me better?"

Ranger cautiously relaxed her posture not quite trusting the she-cat before her; Argo had warned Crys could be a tricky kitty but there was no evidence the hybrid was going to lash out and attack for she seemed to back down as well. Hostility was replaced with genuine curiosity as the Sh'iar warrior waited for an explanation. She relaxed her muscles and did not make an aggressive move.

breathing "Are we done with fighting?" The tigress ventured.

"I want to hear your explanation before I decide…"

Ranger sighed. "It is all very simple really…We are going to be family…I already think of Argo as the big brother I have never had and I would very much like to consider you my sister…But I guess with things… the way they are between us… I am expecting too much and it will most likely never happen…"

The Sh'iar queen said something that caused the tigress to glance up at the imposing woman with disbelief not quite believing what she had heard.

"W-what?" Rangerkitty asked, befuddled.

A genuine smile touched the hybrid's lips. "I said I respect you…"

"You do?"

Crys nodded. "It seems the tigress does have claws after all…I'm not so proud that I can't admit that I was wrong about you…I'm sorry Ranger…It's not often that anyone has the courage to stand up to me, other than Liargo, and I must say admire you for that."

Rangerkitty was dumbfounded then recovering from her shock she held out her hand to Crys, "Friends?"

"Friends…" The warrior acknowledged enfolding her hand over the tigress'.

Tygra's eyes widened in horror, "You did WHAT?!" He bellowed at his cousin who had a sheepish expression on his face. "You allowed Rangerkitty to face off against your crazy warrior-mate?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"Calm down Ty, Ranger will be all right." Argo soothed. "I felt it was about time those two settled their differences once and for all."

The ThunderCat Lord slapped his forehead. "Great Jaga, Argo…I swear if anything should happen to my fiancée… I should kick your ass for this."

"Tiger take it easy…Crys may be many things but she will not tear Ranger apart—it's not in her nature."

"Oh no…No, Of course not. Maiming, destroying, and pulverizing are just a few things that are more up her alley—right?" Tygra sarcastically commented. "Honestly Argo, I don't know what you were thinking!"

"Trust me Ty…They will be all right." The Tiglon meekly commented as he followed his cousin down the corridor towards the dojo. Upon reaching the door, they both hesitated as they stood outside., Tygra especially dreaded going inside fearing only the worst.

_Rangerkitty? RK are you all right? _There was only silence to his mental call. _Babe why aren't you answering me? _Throwing a deadly look over his shoulder back at his cousin, the tiger rushed in but wasn't prepared for what met him!

"What?!"

Argo pushed past the stunned architect and rubbed at his eyes not quite believing either what he was witnessing!

Crystalandra and Rangerkitty were rolling on the floor laughing hysterically!

"What's so funny?" Tygra demanded watching the women with an amused expression on his face. He was so relieved, and now quite amazed to see the frosty Sh'iar queen having a good belly laugh. "Hey do you mind letting us in on the joke?"

RK stopped, regarded her mate, and then burst into renewed laughter joined by Crys.

"All right…Was it something I said?" The tiger inquired.

Eventually their chuckles subsided; Argo stepped forward and helped his mate to her feet. "So can you at least tell us what was so funny so we can share in the joke?"

"You wouldn't understand." Came Crys' reply doing her best to keep a straight face. "It's a girl thing."

RK nodded in acknowledgement giggling; Tygra raised a bushy eyebrow. "Well at least it is nice to see you two women finally getting along that you are able to share something between you."

"Yes!" Rangerkitty and Crystalandra answered looking at each other and broke into laughter. Their men just watched confused but relieved that the she-cats had somehow reached a truce…or had they?


End file.
